"FCC takes on Internet-over-cable debate"
By Maria Seminerio, ZDNet, Friday September 4 12:26 PM ET
The Federal Communications Commission late Thursday released a preliminary report on the policy issues raised by the convergence of Internet and cable services, questioning how the agency should regulate such services.
Any new regulations might mean sweeping changes in the business models of cable-based Internet access and content providers, and possibly new fees that could spur a cost hike for their services, although the draft paper stops short of recommending specific new laws.
Outlining scenarios
The report "represents the first comprehensive assessment of the regulatory status of Internet-based services delivered over cable systems," outlining scenarios for new laws governing Internet-based services delivered over cable systems, said Barbara Esbin, associate bureau chief of the FCC's Cable Services Bureau.
It concludes that there may be grounds for the FCC to regulate such services, under the most recent revision to the 1996 Telecommunications Act reforms enacted by Congress, since the distinction between heavily-regulated basic telecommunications services and unregulated Internet services is becoming less clear.
Free from fees?
The key question will be whether cable and telephony-based Internet services should continue to be free from the fees and interconnection requirements now borne by traditional telephone-service companies, according to Esbin.
"Ultimately, the FCC may need to develop a new regulatory paradigm and language that fits the new global communications medium known as the Internet," she states in the report.
The report, which the FCC says is intended mainly to jump-start the public debate on Internet-over-cable systems, comes at a time when many the Internet industry are questioning whether the FCC has outlived its usefulness.
The agency, formed to oversee the distribution of spectrum for television and radio broadcasts, has been accused of creating a
regulatory maze that threatens to stifle the convergence of the Internet and television, a marriage viewed by many as the ultimate solution to the problem of scarce bandwidth. |
